They're all asleep, they'll never know
We'll escape through your window when they're onto us
But this time is ours
There are reasons for what I did, it wasn't some vile attempt or accomplishment
It was innocent, you know

La, la da da, la da, la da da
La da, la da da, la la

Nurse, something for the pain
And something to make this guilt go away
You're forgetting us
You're forgetting everything and I want to
Hate you for my mistakes
I hate you for everything
This is goodbye
This is always

We're covering up our tracks, and living in secrets
We can learn to love life or learn to love pain
And if you still hear my voice
Give me a sign and let me know
You're still here
Like it or not

But wait
What do we have here?
Who's that dress for?
Let's keep toasting to innocence and drown our regrets
Let's have no recollection of any of this
Don't wait up for me
I'll be taking swings at a ghost while you're laying down
Playing dead right in front of me
Yeah

We're covering up our tracks, and living in secrets
We can learn to love life or learn to love pain
And if you still hear my voice
Give me a sign and let me know
You're still here
Like it or not
Like it or not

My heartbeat was louder than the sound
Of my steps to your door

You're cold
But you're beautiful, you're a mess
But I like it that way, I'm a fool
But only a fool knows a miracle
And I won't ask for anything
No, I won't ask for anything, ever again
Just give me this one thing, that's all I ask
That's all I ask

Don't wait up for me
Well, I'll be taking swings at a ghost while you're laying down
Playing dead right in front of me
Yeah

We're covering up our tracks, and living in secrets
We can learn to love life or learn to love pain
And if you still hear my voice
Give me a sign and let me know
You're still here
Like it or not
Like it or not

13 Comments

General Commenti believe where u have the ??? ...its something like.......La, ladada, lada, ladada, lada, ladada, lala ..... dont hold me to that tho haha...doesnt sound like words to me, and if u listen close u can hear the LALA at the end....

General CommentI think this song is about a guy that got a chick pregnant when they were teenagers and the girl's family is very well known and respected (goody two shoes) so they made her get an abortion and she eventually acted like it never happened and moved on to marry some one else without ever telling anyone about it... it sounds kinda crazy so i'll explain it line by line.

They're all asleep... this time is ours. - This whole part is where they're sneaking out of her house to go fuck.

There are reasons for what I did... it was innocent you know. - The parents either caught them or found out because she's pregnant so the guy is explaining that he really loves her. Cause a lot of guys will fuck a girl just for to prove that they can (vile attempt or accomplishment) but he's saying that's not what it was about. The ladada's kinda remind me of being in love too so maybe that's also part of it.

Now the next verse...
A nurse something for the pain, something to make this guilt go away. - He's probably talking to the nurse about the pain that she'll go through and maybe also thinking of the emotional pain an abortion could cause him as well as the guilt.

You're forgetting us, you're forgetting everything - by this time she's already had the abortion and she's trying to forget that it ever happened.

This is goodbye, this is always - he's saying goodbye forever, either to her or the baby.

The whole chorus is basically talking about covering up what they did. (covering up our tracks, living in secrets)
We can learn to love life (love the baby) or learn to love pain (deal with the abortion)

If you still hear my voice, give me a sign let me know - he's been trying to talk her out of it and now she's just ignoring him.

but wait... any of this - now, it's in the future and she's marrying someone else (who's that dress for) and this guy doesn't even know about the abortion (toast to innocence)

don't wait up for me... playing dead right in front of me - i'm not totally sure about this part. maybe he's talking about the baby as the ghost and she's playing dead because the part that he loved in her is dead.

my heartbeat was louder than the sound of my steps to your door - he's going to see her after a really long time and he's nervous about it.

you're cold... knows a miracle - he's talking about how now she's basically evil because of what she did but he still loves her anyway

i won't ask for anything.. that's all i ask - he just wants to know why she did it and then he'll leave her alone

I'm really not sure how i came up with this. for some reason i was thinking of abortions while listening to this and the whole idea just seemed to fit with each line. I really think the background music plays part of it too... like between the verse and the chorus you can hear whispering in the background which makes me think of people spreading rumors about the abortion...and in the bridge type part, to me it sounds like carnival music except kind of sinister.. since a lot of people have their first dates at a carnival maybe he's thinking back to their first date but it seems evil because of what she's become.....

wow, that was long... sorry if this makes completely no sense to any one else

General CommentI love this song, and the abortion idea totally fits with the lyrics. But, let's see if I can come up with something else...

"They're all asleep...But this time is ours"- he's cheating on his girlfriend with a close family member, or a college roommate. That's why he has to wait till they're asleep and sneak out

"There are reasons for what I did...You know"- he's trying to explain it to his girlfriend, telling her that he did it because he was either:a) testing his love for her, or, b) he needed to take a big risk before he asked her to marry him.

"A nurse...to make this guilt go away"- he found out that the other girl got pregnant, and now he feels guilty, so he thinks that he has to marry HER now.

"You're forgetting us...forgetting everything"- the girl that he WAS going to marry is pissed when he breaks off the engagement because he wants to do the right thing.

"and I want to hate you...for everything"- he's talking about how he wants to hate HIMSELF but he dosen't have time to think about that while he's planning a wedding AND taking care of a baby.

"This is...always"- he's telling the one girl goodbye, and promising himself to the other one forever.

"We're covering...Love pain"-Him and the ex-fiancee stop talking and they cover up their past, and try to forget it. But all the while, they still love each other.

"And if you still...like it or not"- He's thinking about his ex, wondering if she still thinks about him.

"But wait...who's that dress for"- only a short amount of time has passed, but it feels like forever to him, and he's realizing that he has to stop thinking about his ex, and pining over her, because he's getting married

"Let's keep...of any of this"- toasting to innosence is a reference to the innosence of the child, concieved in an act of dishonesty. and he's talking to his wife about how badly it hurts them both that they decieved someone that they loved.

"Don't wait up...right in front of me"- he's telling his wife not to wait up, because he'll be out drinking, trying desperatley to forget, and "Playing dead right in front of me" is her trying to convince him that she's okay kind of "dead to the experiance"

"My heartbeat...steps at your door"-he sees his ex one day and she invites him to come visit her with his new family, and he's nervous about seeing her.

"You're cold but you're beautiful"- he's talking about how his wife and his ex treat each other, about how his ex is treating his wife horribly, but he still loves her.

"You're a mess but I like it that way"- he and the ex go off in a seperate room to talk privatley, and she breaks down right in front of him, but he likes knowing that she still loves him.

"I'm a fool...knows a miricle"-he's talking about how he was a fool to have done what he did, but he realizes that what he did brought them closer together.

"and I won't...that's all I ask"- he's telling his wife that he won't ask for anyhting from her ever again, if she'll divorce him and let him move on, and go back to his ex.

We're covering up...Love pain"- this part takes on a new meaning when he divorces the one chick, and marries his ex, and they begin to love they're life together, while the other girl hates them both and won't forgive either of them.

Okay, that's my idea of what it's about. I don't know why, but that stuff made sense in my head.

General CommentI went to Matchbook's CD release party on Valentine's Day on Long Island, and before they played this song Andrew did a little prelude to it. He said it was written about his ex-girlfriend that he had broken up with.

He didn't give any details as to why he broke up, just that he was happy that he did and that this song was about her.